Morning Minute: Crypto VC Haun Raises $1B Despite Market Slump

Tyler Warner

Tue, May 5, 2026 astatine 6:44 AM CDT 7 min read

Morning Minute is simply a regular newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The investigation and opinions expressed are his ain and bash not needfully bespeak those of Decrypt. And check retired our new regular quality show covering each of the apical stories successful 5 minutes oregon less, downloadable connected Apple Pod oregon Spotify.

GM!

Today’s apical news:

• Crypto majors up 2-5%, Hype leads; Bitcoin astatine $81,000

• BTC ETFs spot $1.15B successful nett inflows implicit past 2 sessions

• DTCC to statesman tokenized banal trading successful July

• WLFI countersues Justin Sun stating helium suppressed the token price

• Telegram to regenerate TON Foundation arsenic largest validator and operator of TON (TON +30%)

💰 Haun Ventures Raises $1B Against a Cooling Crypto VC Market

Katie Haun closed $1 cardinal for 2 caller funds Monday, astatine a infinitesimal erstwhile crypto task superior is successful a genuine slump.

April 2026 saw conscionable $659 cardinal successful crypto VC backing crossed 63 deals, a 74% driblet from March and the lowest monthly fig since July 2024. Year-to-date 2026 crypto VC stands astatine $5.64 billion, inactive reasonably important but down sharply from the gait acceptable successful 2025 (on the backmost of mega-rounds from Binance, Polymarket, and Kalshi). Monthly backing has declined each period since October 2025’s $3.84 cardinal peak, tracking a 37% contraction successful planetary crypto marketplace headdress implicit the aforesaid period.

Against that backdrop, Haun Ventures raising $1 cardinal is notable. The steadfast is 1 of the lone crypto-native funds to turn counter-cyclically—AUM has climbed from $1 cardinal to $2.5 cardinal portion Paradigm, Pantera, and a16z crypto person each seen AUM shrink since 2025’s peak. The returns warrant the confidence. Haun’s archetypal money backed Bridge astatine a $100 cardinal valuation earlier Stripe acquired it for $1.1 billion, and invested successful BVNK astatine $678 cardinal earlier Mastercard acquired it for $1.8 billion—the largest stablecoin acquisition to date. The thesis crossed some exits: stablecoin infrastructure would go indispensable fiscal plumbing, and the acquirers would beryllium incumbent payments companies, not different crypto firms.

Haun Ventures Raises $1 Billion Fund for the Intersection of Crypto and AI Agents

The caller funds grow that thesis to AI agents. Haun’s statement is that AI agents volition request regulated fiscal infrastructure to operate: wallets, outgo rails, compliance layers, and the firms that built stablecoin rails are champion positioned to physique it. The fund’s largest existent stake is Erebor, Palmer Luckey’s federally insured integer slope astatine a $4.35 cardinal valuation, designed from the crushed up to service AI and defence exertion companies alternatively than retail consumers. Haun was wide she isn’t pivoting: “We’re not becoming an AI fund. But AI agents volition request regulated fiscal plumbing, and the firms that built stablecoin infrastructure are champion positioned to physique it.”